Medicare elucidation with a summary of its parts A, B, C & D

Medicare is the national health insurance program, by the government for medical and health related services. These services are provided to the specific group of people. Medicare is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Since 1965, Medicare guarantees access to health insurance for Americans ages 65 and older and younger people with disabilities as well as people with end stage renal disease.

Medicare is providing services in four major parts. These parts are categorized according to the specific services in different sections of healthcare industry. These parts are known as A, B, C & D. Lets discuss each of them:
Part A: Hospital Insurance

• Helps cover inpatient hospitals care

• Helps cover skilled nursing facility, hospice, and other medical services

Part B: Medical Insurance

Part B includes other medical services & supplies that are not covered by Part A. It also helps the doctor to cater the medical bills from outpatient visits & care.

• Helps cover doctors' and other health care providers' services, outpatient care, durable medical equipment, and home health care

• Helps cover some preventive services to help maintain your health and to keep certain illnesses from getting worse

Part C: Medicare Advantage

Part C covers the element of choice. This plan allows you to select to receive healthcare services through a provider organization. This works incredibly to reduce your costs of receiving medical services. To enroll in Part C, you must have both parts A & B.

• Offers health plan options run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies

• Medicare Advantage Plans are a way to get the benefits and services covered under Part A & B

• Most Medicare Advantage Plans cover Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D)

• Some Medicare Advantage Plans may include extra benefits for an extra cost

Part D: Prescription Drug Coverage

This part of Medicare is voluntary & provides outpatient prescription drug coverage. Part D is only available through private insurance companies that have contracted with government.

• Helps cover the cost of prescription drugs
• May help lower your prescription drug costs and help protect against higher costs in the future
• Run by Medicare-approved private insurance companies

Policies driven by Medicare help the private health insurance companies to utilize Medicare benefits & privileges. There are many Medicare plans like HMOs (Health maintenance Organization) or PPOs (Preferred Provider Organization). In general the benefits cover:

• Payment  for Doctor Bills
• Handling hospitalization charges/costs
• Prescription Drugs
• Settlement of other related medical services & products.

The meaningful use program by Medicare brings supplementary benefits in addition to the federal government financial incentives. It allows providers and practices enhance their services by reducing errors and quick access to information.

White House proudly acclaimed Bloomfield's Cigna Corp. for its care-centric efforts

Cigna is a prominent name among health insurance companies. It is a recognized entity in providing administrative services, to approximately 80 percent of its clients, said Internet search. Cigna endures key footprints in the Phoenix, Arizona with the collaboration of a full-service staff-model HMO with satellite clinics throughout the state too. Bloomfield's Cigna Corp. care-centric efforts for all Americans were immensely prized. It is contributing to serve millions of people with advance health concerns, welfare and sense of safety. Cigna core competencies involve:

1. Health care concerns with improved strategies and services
2. Advanced well-being programs
3. Proven health records
4.  Targeting the needs of customers, clients and partners

Cigna is one of the nine organizations that U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin accepted for care-centric efforts to reduce health care disparities during a roundtable at the White House, recently. The event was done by the Department of Health and Human Services, the White House Business Council and the National Business Group on Health. Cigna's M.D. namely Christina Stasiuk accepted the Surgeon General's Medallion on behalf of Cigna and its Health Disparities Council, including council co-chair Peggy Payne and council lead Brooke Tomblin, said Internet search.

Health disparities result from multiple factors, including, communications barriers, poverty, cultural beliefs, environmental threats, medical bias, inadequate access to health care, individual and behavioral factors and even educational inequalities. This big achievement encouraged Cigna to continue their efforts more vigorously. Award was given in the credit of winning exceptional achievements that upgraded the public health service. In future, Cigna will work to remove cultural, linguistic and other barriers, connecting people to meaningful health information and studying new ways to engage people in health improvement, reflecting true commitment with diversity and enclosure.[1]

[1]http://newsroom.cigna.com/NewsReleases/cigna-honored-at-white-house-for-efforts-to-reduce-health-care-disparities.htm

                                               

Electronic Health Record: For Efficient and Error-free Practice Management

To provide better and more efficient medical care, doctors need to have access to information about their patients. A provider can better treat the patient if he or she has access to the patient’s medical history, demographics, lab results, clinical reports and other relevant data. Real-time access to all this information prevents errors and results in accurate diagnosis, better treatment and improved patient outcomes.

The question is how a provider could get all this information at a single centralized place. The answer is Electronic Health Records (EHR). EHR is a comprehensive healthcare system that provides a complete solution for a medical practice. It helps practices improve their services and double their revenues. Moreover, practices that make meaningful use of EHR also become eligible to earn a meaningful use bonus from Medicare or Medicaid. With the e-prescription feature, the EHR allows the provider to send prescriptions directly to the drug store. Similarly, the lab connectivity feature allows the provider to access lab results and reports directly on his or her computer system. With quick access to a patient’s data, a provider can accurately diagnose the disease and treat the patient in a better way.

One of the convincing features of EHR is that it handles all the data electronically, thereby reducing errors. It ensures smooth, efficient and error-free operations. Once the data about the patient is stored in the EHR, the doctor can always retrieve that patient’s medical data even if the patient is not present or is unconscious. This is really helpful in emergency situations when providers have to take prompt action for an unconscious patient.

Electronic Health Records (EHR)

Get Paid Faster up to $44000 with EHR Incentive Program

Electronic Health Record allows practices and providers to maintain an electronic record of patient’s information. The capabilities of EHR extend far beyond just maintaining electronic records. EHR features such as e-prescription, lab connectivity, drug interactions, automatic alerts, online patient engagement, etc. are making significant contribution in transforming healthcare industry. 

These programs have promised to reward providers and practices on demonstrating meaningful use of EHR. Medicare promises to give $44,000 and Medicaid promises to give $63,750 to the providers who will demonstrate meaningful use of EHR. Ensure your participation in EHR incentive program to earn meaningful use bonus. Following is the eligibility criteria for providers to participate in EHR incentive programs:

Eligible professionals under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program include	Eligible professionals under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program include
Doctor of medicine or osteopathy	Physicians (primarily doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy)
Doctor of dental surgery or dental medicine	Nurse practitioner
Doctor of podiatry	Certified nurse-midwife
Doctor of optometry	Dentist
Chiropractor	Physician assistant who furnishes services in a Federally Qualified Health Center of Rural Health Clinic that is led by a physician assistant

Source: https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/index.html?redirect=/EHRIncentivePrograms/

Flow-chart of EHR